Mickey Demetriou has a great track record playing alongside young defenders on loan from Albion.

If his latest link-up works out as well as the previous two, it will be great news for Ed Turns and the Seagulls.

Demetriou (pictured below) comes from Durrington and lined up alongside Lewis Dunk when they were teenagers at Bognor.

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He then partnered Ben White during his hugely progressive season with Newport County.

Now he is helping Turns settle after he switched loan allegiance from Leyton Orient to Crewe.

A couple of early clean sheets, a fine win at leaders Stockport and some mutual goal creation has helped things settle quicky.

Crewe are in the hunt for promotion, something Turns achieved on loan with Orient last season.

Demetriou said: “He has settled really well. The first game was the Tranmere game and he had only been here a day.

“To settle in the way he did was a credit to him.

“It’s not his first loan so that massively helped.

“He has been promoted out of the league already and he has got a pedigree, coming through the Brighton academy.

“He came in on the Friday and all our Friday sessions are is a bit of shape work and five-a-sides to get the legs going.

“We are a good group so we can take a little bit of credit for that, to welcome him.

“He has hit the ground running and it feels like he has been here all season.”

Turns’ adaptability has been tested as Crewe switch between back three and back four from game to game and within games.

He set up Demetriou for the opener at Stockport and then roles were reversed as he nodded in a cross.

Demetriou said: “To get that goal early on helps you settle.

“He is an out-and-out defender but he is confident on the ball.

“At that age, all you want to do is play football, which is why he made the move to us.

“At the moment, touch wood, it is working for him.

“Being a partnership on the pitch, we try to build a relationship off it.

“He’s a lovely lad and if I can help in any way, talk about experiences I’ve gone through, I’m sure he wants to learn.

“That’s the impressive thing about him as well.

“He is asking questions, whether that’s of players or coaches.

“He doesn’t think ‘I’ve made it’.

“He wants to go back to Brighton, that’s the aim.

“He wants to go back there and play.”

Turns will get a rounded footballing education back in the fourth tier.

Demetriou said: “At our club, we like to play .

“It helps that he is from Brighton because they enjoy being with the ball.

“Some teams in League Two might not have the players who are comfortable on the ball so it is more like route one. He is getting a real mix.

“It’s a man’s game going up against players who have been in this league for a few years.

“He is learning both ways to win football matches.

“He did that last year at Leyton Orient, he did well and they got promoted.

“Hopefully we can experience something similar.”

Demetriou is delighted to see two of his former colleagues doing so well.

He said: “I was with Lewis when I was 18 and I think he was 17, just before he signed his first pro deal.

“Now look how he is flying.

“I still speak to him a few times across the season and it’s great to see him do so well.”

White was tipped for England by boss Michael Flynn when he played for Newport in the 2017-18 season.

Demetriou said: “You could tell he had that quality.

“We were lucky to get him in League two.

“He could have gone straight to League One.

“The poise he had on the ball, the confidence at a young age.

“I suppose that’s what you get coming through a club like Brighton.

“They give young players the chime to play.

“You could tell he would be once a Premier League player.”

Demetriou who turns 34 next month, is also in contact with Albion coach Andrew Crofts, with whom he spent a season at Newport.

The defender himself is enjoying new challenges after passing 300 appearances at Newport.

He said: “I was at Newport for seven years but it worked out that it was time to leave.

“Crewe are a similar club to Newport really, family orientated.

“When I went in they welcomed me with open arms.

“Touch wood I have started all but one game, scored eight goals and had few assists.”